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Friday 12 July 2013

The end of an era.

India will witness a historical  metamorphosis from  15 th July  2013. It will  be a testimony  to  the end of a  one hundred and fifty year  old  practise of sending  a telegram. The  end of this once very popular service, which started in  the year 1850,  will become  a reality due to   the modern prevalence of SMS, Email etc. The death knell was sounded in the year 1991,with the advent  and consequent  popularity of Internet. At the peak of its  prevalence,the telegraph boy was a  very important  visitor in villages, small towns and also metropolis. The telegram  brought welcome messages like birth in a family, results of the children and deaths in the family. Whereas people used to dread a midnight call of the telegraph boys, fearing communication of a  news of death, they hailed him when the same person brought news of  births ,weddings, appointments etc. 
 In  many countries the telegram has been wiped out. India and a few other countries were  left . India is also joining the countries where telegraph service has already become extinct. I read in the Newspaper that an affluent father has sent a telegram to his daughter, merely to keep it as a momento for the future off springs. It is amusing that such a popular service is  being wiped out by the  all mighty Sms's Emails internet  and super fast methods of communication Might is right!! Hence the mightier one is progressing leaving behind the frail  and haggard one. It will now exist in books of History. As we say "change is law of nature''. Only the fittest will survive! Bye telegrams.









29 comments:

  1. Last telegram I sent was when my son was born:)..after that we never needed it...

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    1. Thank you Renu. The language used in the telegrams was also terse. Each word was measured, as every word would cost money!! Hence people wanted to make it as brief as possible.

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  2. Indeed.. no memory of the last telegram I've put my hands on..

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  3. The harbinger of both good and bad news will be soon forgotten just like hand written letters and cards. End of an era.

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  4. As you very rightly pointed out Telegram was something that was usually dreaded but if the news was joyous like birth or news of job etc, then it was revered :) Times change and so do means of communication...End of an era indeed...

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  5. Even SMS is outdated, now whatsapp is ruling everyone and everything...
    Change is inevitable and 'everything' has to end for a new begining. It's just that the change is happening very fast and you never know what will get outdated tomorrow.

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    1. Yes Megha Change is happening very fast.

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  6. Maketh way!!! All things must pass. The ubiquitous red letter box, if you remember.

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  7. never sent a telegram all my life....though I remember my parents sending and receiving them.... like u said, getting a telegram was dreaded for it could bring bad news....sadly, our generation and the next will never know what a great invention that was!

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    1. Very true Princess.The present day Sms etc. will soon be a thing of the past!

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  8. Very true Princess. The present day SMS also will soon Be a thing of the past.

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  9. Ha Ha that looked more like an obituary of the telegram that goes into the pages of history now! Yet another proof that only constant in life is 'change'

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    1. Yes Rahul,Every thing changes to make way for the new things to step in.

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  10. I have sent many telegrams as a school kid to friends and relatives (on behalf of my parents, as part of growing up and learning to do things). I used to remember the codes for the standard messages then. This post of your gives me an idea for a post... hope I am able to locate the last telegram that I had received many years ago.... :)

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    1. Thank you Shilpa. I read your post. Even though insignificant ,those days had a charm of its own.

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  11. As an Army officer's wife, telegram was very much part of our initial life together. Then it became redundant with the advent of easy access by telephones. Later came cell phones :)

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    1. Yes Shail. Now even cell phones are becoming obsolete.

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  12. I never got to send a telegram so am not really going to miss it! :)

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    1. Thanks Roshni for responding. The telegram service must have started dwindling when you were growing.

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  13. Everyone and everything will vanish one day.Nice post.

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    1. Ya Sarala you are right. Nothing is permanent.

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  14. Telegram retires after 160 years!For a generation growing up on emails and SMSes, wouldn't understand the pain and pleasure of receiving and dispatching news - happy or sad - through the telegrams.
    Many memories gushed forth with this discontinuation...

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    1. Ya Panchali. I remember that a midnight visit by the telegraph boys was scary. I enjoyed sending telegrams through telephone.

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  15. And I never got to send a telegram so I can hardly relate to it.

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